Vintage Finds In Napa

Apologies for the lack of updates lately but I'm afraid that progress on our new home is extremely slow going due to work and other obligations. We've also discovered that it takes three times longer to complete any project we start (we're currently working on my office) due to all the problems you come across while restoring an older home. It's been an interesting learning experience and we've had to face the fact that it will be a long time before we can call our new house a home.

We still can't cook in our kitchen but we have a toaster oven and the house came with a microwave that I'm reluctantly learning to use. I've never owned a microwave before and I never wanted one but it has come in handy lately. Trader Joe's makes some decent microwave food but I'm getting tired of their microwave pastas, soba noodles and pad thai.

For fun we've been trying to get out of the house for a few hours on the weekends and explore Napa's second-hand shops and thrift stores. One of the best shops in Napa is undoubtedly Alice’s Consignment shop and this weekend the large parking lot behind Alice’s Consignment shop was turned into the Downtown Napa Antique & Vintage Flea Market. It was a small but interesting gathering of eclectic sellers and buyers. One of my favorite sellers was Rosey's Little Things. I bought a Melmac serving dish from her and some lovely jewelry. The Downtown Napa Antique & Vintage Flea Market is going to become a monthly event during the summer and fall months and I'm looking forward to it! The next one is scheduled to take place on June 26th and you can find more information here.

Here's a few pictures of some of the vintage goodies we've picked up for our home in the last few months.



Original painting of San Francisco's Chinatown painted in the late '60s or early '70s by an unknown artist named KING. I'm trying to find out more information about KING so if you happen to know anything please drop me a note!



Melmac serving dish and cups with saucers.



Asian influenced and slightly kitschy vintage wall hangings.



Large vintage Pyrex bowl (Square Flowers / Verde)

Easter Weekend Shopping

Some of my vintage vinyl bunny toys.

I hope everyone enjoyed the recent Easter holiday or as I like to call it, "Bunny & Egg Day." I've been really busy lately but over Easter weekend my guy and I did a little shopping and I thought I'd share some pics of our purchases. But first some background information...

One of the many highlights of becoming a new homeowner is the incredible amount of coupons that arrive in your mailbox after you've moved. I can only assume that real estate agents sell your address for some kind of commission or maybe when you get a new address, phone number, etc. companies now let retailers know? Whatever the case may be, we've been getting a lot of coupons in the mail that offer anything from 10-25% off retail prices at nice shops like Restoration Hardware, West Elm and Crate and Barrel. Most of them come with a letter or gift card that says something like "Hello new home owners! We realize you've just made the biggest purchase you're likely to ever make but we want your business. Please stop by your local "*enter store name here* and spend more money!"

Last Saturday we tried to take advantage of some of these cards. We made a trip to our local Crate and Barrel Outlet where you can find a lot of stuff on sale as well as limited items and damaged merchandise selling well below retail price. While we were there we bought some colorful melamine cups and a set of storage/mixing bowels that we really needed (I love their duel design!). I also fell in love with a really cute serving set that I'd like to purchase sooner or later.